The
declassified reported, released Friday, determined with "high
confidence" that Russia's interference -- consisting of hacking
Democratic groups and individuals and releasing that information via
third-party websites, including WikiLeaks -- helped President-elect
Donald Trump win the election.
Here are some of the highlights from the report.
"We
assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign
in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia's goals were to
undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary
Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further
assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference
for President-elect Trump."
2. Effort was ordered by Putin
"We
assess that influence campaigns are approved at the highest levels of
the Russian government - particularly those that would be politically
sensitive."
3. Putin's grudge
"Putin
most likely wanted to discredit Secretary Clinton because he has
publicly blamed her since 2011 for inciting mass protests against his
regime in late 2011 and early 2012, and because he holds a grudge for
comments he almost certainly saw as disparaging him."
4. A 'significant escalation'
"Russian
efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election represent the
most recent expression of Moscow's longstanding desire to undermine the
US-led liberal democratic order, but these activities demonstrated a
significant escalation in directness, level of activity, and scope of
effort compared to previous operations."
5. Paid social media trolls
"Moscow's
influence campaign followed a Russian messaging strategy that blends
covert intelligence operations -- such as cyberactivity -- with overt
efforts by Russian government agencies, state-funded media, third-party
intermediaries and paid social media users or 'trolls.'"
6. #DemocracyRIP
"Before
the election, Russian diplomats had publicly denounced the US electoral
process and were prepared to publicly call into question the validity
of the results. ProKremlin bloggers had prepared a Twitter campaign,
#DemocracyRIP, on election night in anticipation of Secretary Clinton's
victory, judging from their social media activity."
7. Russian media involvement
"Russian
media hailed President-elect Trump's victory as a vindication of
Putin's advocacy of global populist movements - the theme of Putin's
annual conference for Western academics in October 2016 -- and the
latest example of Western liberalism's collapse."
8. Beyond the US
"Moscow
will apply lessons learned from its Putin-ordered campaign aimed at the
US presidential election to future influence efforts worldwide,
including against US allies and their election processes."
9. Other US targets
"We
assess Russian intelligence services will continue to develop
capabilities to provide Putin with options to use against the United
States, judging from past practice and current efforts. Immediately
after Election Day, we assess Russian intelligence began a spearphishing
campaign targeting US government employees and individuals associated
with US think tanks and NGOs in national security, defense, and foreign
policy fields."
10. Putin and WikiLeaks
"In
early September, Putin said publicly it was important the DNC data was
exposed to Wikileaks, calling the search for the source of the leaks a
distraction and denying Russian 'state-level' involvement."
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